


Beyond the Shadows

by Kellygirl



Category: star trek discovery
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Fantasy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-09-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:48:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26313682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kellygirl/pseuds/Kellygirl
Summary: Michael has been asked to solve a mystery.
Relationships: Michael Burnham/Gabriel Lorca
Kudos: 7





	Beyond the Shadows

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a Michael/Gabriel challenge on Tumblr about two years ago. Realized I never put it here where I try to put all my stories.

Beyond the Shadows 

Michael stumbled into her room and sank to the floor. Her hands were trembling and her body felt as if it were about to shake apart. She gulped frantically and tried to control her breathing, but she could only gasp and gasp and hope she didn’t faint before she calmed down.

She’d been working tirelessly for two days trying all she knew, or rather all she had access to, to save The Sleeping Queen. She had no illusion that this would somehow mitigate her crimes, but one year ago after having one of her spells rip out of her control and kill foes and allies alike, it had felt good to be trusted with this job. 

She knew the only reason she’d been brought here to this outer Kingdom was her connection to the Lexins. She was human but she’d been raised by them after her parents died and Lexins were known for miracle healings and magics.

A hand lightly touched her shoulder. She looked up and into the blue eyes of Gabriel Lor, the Sleeping Queen’s Shadow Master. He was Warden of the Kingdom and had fought off three attacks in the two years Queen Phillipa had been under the sleeping spell. 

He’d had her brought here from the castle she’d been turned over to after her sentencing. He’d asked for her help, and didn’t blame her for the accident that had killed thousands and decimated the Enteric Kingdom. 

“Michael, you okay? Did you sense anything from her? Is she...is she in pain?”

Michael shook her head and stood up. She dusted off her skirt. 

“No. She’s not in any pain. She’s in a deep sleep and she’s. She’s paused. Her body and her mind. When she wakes up she won’t know any time has passed.” 

He smiled at her and at her inquiring frown said, “You’re the first to say ‘when she wakes’ not ‘if she wakes.’”

Michael sat on her bed and gestured for Gabriel to join her. She didn’t react when Gabriel covered her hand with his. She knew his intentions because he’d told her two weeks ago. She’d never been courted but she was enjoying it.

“The spell is more complicated than I thought. Maybe before my magic and shields were stripped I could lift it but...” She took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. “I need to consult my father.”

“I thought you said that was a bad idea.”

“It is. He is Lexin and they will occasionally grant favors, but no one but the Lexin comes out on top.”

Gabriel nodded. Michael knew he’d done research before asking for her and she knew as Shadowmaster, someone expert and gathering and using information, he would know Lexins were a proud, fierce race that would extract a high price for their knowledge.

Her father had been the one to strip her spell weaving ability from her after the Enteric tragedy. But he’d also been the one to share part of his essence with her so she would not be vulnerable to all that wished her harm. And there were many that wanted to do her harm.

Gabriel took her other hand and rubbed them both as if warming her up or giving her support.

“How long will it take him to get here?”

Michael let go of Gabriel’s hands and stood up. She needed to gather a few herbs that would relax her enough to contact Sa’re.

“Once I reach him, it will not be long. A day at the most.” 

She did not speak of the forest shimmers that Lexins used to travel quickly. They were doorways that could cut travel time down to almost nothing and only available to Lexins. 

Gabriel patted her arm in comfort and farewell. “I’ll go inform the steward to prepare a room. Any special foods or drinks he will want once he arrives?”

Michael remembered her father had been amused at a King that had almost bankrupted his kingdom gathering all the food, drink and other comforts he thought her father would demand during his visit.

She shook her head. “What we have here is sufficient. Maybe a few more hares, and he will request a look at the Queen’s library.”

That is what her father and most Lexin’s desired. Knowledge and truth. They were curious about the world around them and while they considered other species beneath them, they wanted the history and actions of them. To study, to counteract, to laugh at. It all depended upon the Lexin.

The sun was coming up when her meditations paid off and her father reached out to her, scolding her for using so much energy and then agreeing to come to her in twenty-four hours. Before he withdrew from her mind he congratulated her on her courtship.

“He is interesting and I look forward to meeting him.”

Michael went to bed while turning those words over in her mind. She couldn’t tell if they were a threat or meant to be a comfort.

She woke six hours later and wrote up a short observation of her findings about the spell used on The Sleeping Queen. It was a powerful spell that required the blood of a relative and since they already knew the Queen’s twin was guilty, they knew who and since she tried to take over right before the spell took effect they knew why. 

After the fierce battle in which her sister escaped, Queen Phillipa had went to sleep and never woke. The How was where she stumbled. It was complicated and if she stepped wrong in her cure, she could push the Queen into death or permanent wakefulness that would soon drive her insane.

She found Gabriel in his office and got a slow lush kiss in greeting. Her heart sped up and she tried to push her feelings down. Being raised by Lexins meant a lot of human interactions were mysterious or hard and confusing for her.

She’d decided to give Gabriel a chance because he seemed sincere and looked at her like she was the sun. He’d shown since she arrived that he cared about her and the people around them. He did what needed to be done and he’d held these lands and its people in his hands for the past two years and they loved him for it. 

She knew to some he was seen as ruthless and savage but the people spoke of him with pride and happiness. Of all of the people that tried to take this Kingdom none of them cared for the people like their Queen, and now their Shadow Master.

Two hours later, she stood with Gabriel in the entrance hall and greeted her father. Sa’re was a noted and powerful Lexin with many favors owed to him from various species around the world. 

Her father’s family, her family for they had all accepted her somewhat, were allied with other powerful Lexin families and when she’d failed and killed thousands, the only reason she wasn’t dead was because to kill her would have brought the Lexins down on what remained of the Enteric kingdom. Lexins did not fight often but when they did, it was devastating and affected millions.

She hugged him quickly while he greeted her. 

“Your mother sends her love and will contact you soon about a visit.” 

She smiled and watched him and Gabriel take each others measure as they shook hands.

Gabriel spoke first.

“Thank you for taking the time, Sir. We appreciate it.”

Her father smirked briefly, there and gone. “Of course. Anything for my daughter and her intended. But I’m sure you, with your information gathering skills, knew that.”

Gabriel smiled and it was a predator baring his teeth. “Your daughter has been our best hope of waking our Sleeping Queen. She is very smart and compassionate.”

Her father sniffed in disapproval or supposed disapproval. Michael knew he was having fun, having found in Gabriel, someone not eager to kowtow and agree with her father on everything in hope of getting on his good side. Her father hated people like that.

“I will expect your observations, Michael, and your suggestions after lunch.”

Michael clasped her hands behind her back and nodded. “Yes, father. Let me show you to your room.”

After getting her father settled she smiled at the relieved look on Gabriel’s face. 

“He is intense.”

She grabbed his hand and held it. “I think he likes you.”

Her hand was squeezed and she was pulled closer for a brief kiss. 

“I’m glad.”

Michael finished her report, making it verbal like she’d done when she was younger, learning how to gather and verbalize her thoughts concisely in the Lexin manner.

Her father stopped walking around the little greenhouse she’d been allowed to take over as her work space. 

“The spell is difficult to execute and difficult to break. I’d love to find this woman and question her about who taught it to her. We are generally the only species that still knows the older weaved spells like this.”

“Do you think a Lexin helped her out?”

Sa’re shrugged. “Unimportant. I can break the spell. It will be up to her people to get her up to speed on the past two years. They will also need a drought to help condition her muscles since she hasn’t moved. I will leave that potion to you as I have every confidence in you being able to make it.” He paused and studied her. 

“I think you are more worried about what I want in return.”

Michael hummed her thanks for still having her Father's confidence of her now limited skills. 

“I am worried but you taught me that when Lexins are involved, there is cause for worry and I have not forgotten it.”

Her father threw her a small smile and let his hand drift idley over her work table. He didn’t touch it but she saw the glide of his hand deliver a spell of strength. Now her potions would be stronger.

“Meet me in the Queen’s Chambers and bring your Gabriel. No one else.”

Michael hurried out and went to find Gabriel. The easiest way to break the spell was to transfer it to someone else. Would it be her or Gabriel?

She listened in shock as her father gave them another choice. 

“I will lift the spell. In exchange, Gabriel, you will tie your soul to Michaels’. This means there will be a connection between you even beyond death.” He paused and he looked more serious. “And beyond realities.”

Gabriel looked at her father and then at her, before returning to study her father.

“Realities?”

Her father nodded as he began to prepare the ingredients for his spell.

“There are different dimensions. I and other Lexins that travel though the shimmer know this. We have observed many realities that contain the same people but in different situations. Some are more rudimentary than us and some are more advanced.”

He looked at them and gave a small huff of laughter. “I know, I know it is hard to believe but it is true. I have seen you, Gabriel in some of these realities, just I have seen my daughter. The one where you are most successful, both of you, you are together. Whether you are friends or lovers or whatever, these are the ones where you survive and thrive.”

He paused as a puff of sweet smelling smoke arose from his stone bowl. 

“I would have that for her and if I tie you two together then she has more chance of success. You are ruthless in a way that she is not and while that is not always a good thing, her heart, her compassion can tone your cynicism down.”

He looked at them. “You both have beat insurmountable odds to get to where you are now. That is enough to convince me that the benefits outweigh any side effects.”

Michael handed him bag of blue root seeds. “What are those side effects?”

Sa’re pinched off something green and purple and added it to his mix.

“If you do not find each other in these other realities and lives you will ache for something you won’t have a name for. You can be happy with others but there will always be something missing. When you do find each other, it will take great betrayal to tear you apart.”

He does not tell them of the blood and horror they cause together in some of the realities he observed. They are few and far between and while he regretted the deaths and destruction, they are not his main concern. 

Michael grabbed Gabriel’s hand and pulled him out of the room.

“There must be another way. You do not have to do this.”

Gabriel took her other hand and pulled her closer. His kiss was warm, his tongue sliding inside and caressing hers. He pulled back and placed a hand on her waist.

“I could think of nothing better than this.” He smiled and looked embarrassed. 

“I have a confession to make.”

She wrapped a hand around his waist and waited.

“I saw you once when I traveled to Enteric to meet an informant. You were coming out of shop and you were laughing. I did what I do and found out all I could about you. I kept tabs on you from afar and had a plan on hand if your father was not successful in talking the council out of putting you to death.”

Michael smiled at the rueful smirk Gabriel gave her. “When there came a chance to offer you a place to heal and to rest, I wanted you here. Having knowledge and connections that would help my Queen, that was a bonus. I wanted you here no matter what. Your father is proposing to give me this over and over again and also gift it to different versions of me.” 

Another kiss, this one slow and full of emotions had Michael realizing that Gabriel had been taking it slow for her, that he was already in love with her and wanted every aspect of her and wanted that for every reincarnation of himself and her.

She took a deep breath and thought about it. Did she want this? To be forever entwined with this charismatic, fierce man? Until death was just the beginning. But to know that he would be there for her over and over. That was very appealing. 

“I want this too.”

His hug was almost too tight as he kissed her and moved them until her back rested against a wall. She wrapped her leg around his waist and gasped when he moved her other leg until it too wrapped around his waist. She felt him eager and hard and sighed into his mouth.

“My father is waiting for us.”

Gabriel groaned and let her down. “Go on back inside and I’ll be there in a moment.”

Michael straightened her shirt and leggings and joined her father. She watched him for a moment and asked the question that had been in the back of her head since her father had mentioned other realities. 

“Did you arrange for me and Gabriel to meet?”

Sa’re covered his bowl with a damp towel. It would be ready in two hours. He knew his smart daughter would ask this at some point. He decided to be direct.

“Do you mean did I arrange for you to lose control of your spell so that it would kill thousands? No, no I did not but I recently observed a reality where I did allow that to happen and you and Gabriel stopped that version of me.”

He ignored the shocked look on her face. That version of him had wanted this land and all others under his rule. It had been a relief to see him stopped. He cleaned up his tools. 

“It would be easier if one of you took her place, but it would not be the wisest course of action. She will need someone she can trust to re-acclimate her to what is happening with her kingdom and the other ruling families.”

The spell to bind them took place in the forest near a well used shimmer point. She’d only used them twice in her life, always with her father, with the warning that using it too much could drive other species insane. 

Near the pulsing energy, it was just her, Gabriel and her father. The words were short and Michael and Gabriel both felt the tug of something as they were tied together. 

Her father placed a hand on each of their shoulders and said, “If one of you dies, it does not mean the other follows. But the next lifetime you have, you will find one another. And the lifetime after that, and after that. As for other realities, any in which you both exist, those versions just felt the binding and hopefully will find each other.”

That night, after being there as Queen Phillipa opened her eyes and seeing her father off, Michael welcomed Gabriel into her bed.

As he lay between her legs, he touched her everywhere and made promises that he whispered into her skin. They gasped and moaned and moved together and she made the same promises as she rode him to exhaustion. He was hers and she was his and together they would make each other better than they would be as separate beings.

Two days later, Michael laid her head on Gabriel’s chest as they slowly danced at a impromptu party that was started after Queen Phillipa made her first appearance to her court and her people.

She and Gabriel had taken a scary step and it felt like she’d jumped off a cliff. A squeeze of her hand reminded her she was not jumping alone.

End


End file.
